The Most Beautiful Woman in the World
by Pata Hikari
Summary: [AU] There's nothing more that Ranma would like then to be rid of the Junsenkyo curse he's saddled with. Fortunately, he's learned of a cure. All he has to do is get a kiss from a girl named Akane Tendo. Spoken of by the magic as "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World"...
1. Boys and Girls

Today was not exactly the best day in Ranma's life. No, in fact if you were to ask Ranma what the worst possible day in Ranma's life would be, this day would rank up there.

Both his parents were in the small hut, staring straight at him, completely mortified. With a groan Ranma looked down at himself to avoid their gaze.

Rather, Ranma looked down at herself.

"What has happened to my son!" Nodoka her mother shouted at the chinese man heating a kettle.

The man, who was a guide to this wretched place Ranma's father had dragged his family to, sighed. "I tried to warn guests! Those springs are cursed!"

Nodoka's mouth snapped shut, she glanced over at her husband. "Genma, dear, why didn't you say anything about a curse?"

As much as Genma could bluster, the withering stare of his wife reduced him to whimpering shell of a man. "Dear… the pamphlet didn't mention any curses…" He held up the pamphlet and Nodoka snatched it out of his hands.

Nodoka looked over the small booklet, her expression becoming more and more dour. "Husband?"

"Yes…?

"You can not read Chinese, correct?"

"Err, that's right." Genma said.

"Then why, Genma…" Nodoka growled, "Did you use a pamphlet **written in chinese **as your guide!" She screamed, before beating her husband over the head with the Saotome Family Blade.

Thankfully she kept the sheathe on.

* * *

No. It was not a good day for Ranma at all. Here she was, following her parents to their next destination, for more training and hopefully... a cure.

Yes, a cure to this annoying curse. Ranma could not believe Genma! She knew her father could make some hair brained choices occasionally, but this was by far the dumbest! He had ignorantly dragged his family to a horrible cursed training ground, and then within five minutes had gotten his son cursed!

Niángnìquán, the "Spring of Drowned Girl." It was a "very tragic story" of some girl who drowned in the spring years ago. And now, whenever Ranma was hit with cold water, he was forced into another form. That of a girl. Either the form of the girl who had drowned, or what she herself would look like if she had been born female. Judging by how she still resembled her mother, Ranma figured it was the second.

Nǚjiézú, the "Tribe of Women Heroes." A village near Junsenkyo that had long isolated itself (sort of). Filled with powerful martial arts and mystic secrets, it had actually been Genma's next planned destination after the mystical training ground. But once the guide had mentioned that nobody knew more about the secrets of the springs then that (semi)reclusive tribe, Ranma had insisted they head there right away. So, with Nodoka now in charge of the map (She could read some Chinese), the Saotome family headed off to the mysterious village.

"Well, this looks like a lovely place." Nodoka said as they entered the town. There were cobblestone roads, children running around playing, and lots of people milling around. They could see a few girls doing what looked like some forms with boys watching and cheering.

"Leave this up to me." Genma stepped forward, approaching one of the villagers. "Excuse me, ma'am? I was wondering, me and my family just came back from Junsenkyo and-"

At the mention of the word "Jusenkyo" a sudden silence came over the village, as every pair of eyes stared at Genma.

* * *

Akane didn't know if this was the best day of her life, but it was ranking pretty high up there. She had been a student at Furinkan for a month thus far, and everything had been going great. She was doing well in classes, and had suddenly found herself quite popular.

The time between middle school and high school had lead Akane to blossom from an awkward teenage girl into a lovely young woman. And quite a young woman she was, she was not a slender frail waif. She had a strength in her stride and movements that came from years of practicing her family's school of Martial Arts. She had quickly grown popular among both girls and boys. The various martial arts clubs didn't even resent her not joining any! After all she had duties at home as the heir to her family's dojo.

Still, that didn't mean she didn't occasionally go help up some of the clubs if they asked. Like she was now doing, showing some of the Judo Club members how to do a tricky throw. Tossing the various members to demonstrate it, even several boys much bigger than her were easily thrown off.

She noticed that there was someone watching her who she didn't recognize as a member of the club. He had been leaning against the wall, watching her. His eyes met hers, and she was suddenly staring at him. Her mind searched for a name to match the face, "Ah…" Tatewaki Kuno, he was in the year ahead of her. The captain of the Kendo Club, Akane wondered what was he doing here. Was he here to ask for some help?

When Tatewaki noticed that Akane was looking at him, he stood straight and began walking towards her. Akane noticed that the judo club scattered away from her. Some girls giggling as he approached her. "Good afternoon Upperclassman."

"Akane Tendo." Tatewaki gave her a smile, "Its a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Akane felt her face heat up a little, that smile was a new one. Quite a few boys had been looking at her and some of them had even tried to talk to her. Yet there was something about the way he was approaching her that made her feel a bit strange. He was definitely interested in her, was he going to ask her out? Give her flowers? The romantic in her went into overdrive. "W-what do you need, Upperclassman?" She gave him her best smile.

"Since you joined our fair school, Ms. Tendo, I have been admiring your ability. Your strength and skill is beyond compare, I doubt any in this school can match you." He looked off into the distance, "Truly your power will carry you to the halls of legend."

"Oh, you don't have to be like that Upperclassman." Akane said with a blush, "You can just call me Akane…"

"Then you may call me by my given name." Tatewaki said, smiling confidently. "I wish to test my skills against yours, to see if I can stand against you."

Well this was a new way of flirting, and yet it felt exciting to Akane. Her smile grew broad, "Well then, Tatewaki, let's do a bit of sparring…" An idea came to her, "Oh, I know… how about a little wager? If you win, I'll let you take me out on a date."

Tatewaki's smile grew broader, "And if you are victorious then, I shall permit you to date me."

* * *

The three Saotomes were shuffled into a small house off in the corner of the village. A girl about Ranma's age was gawking at them as the one of the men who had lead them there was talking rapidly to an old woman in some dialect of Chinese that Ranma didn't recognize. (Genma, oddly enough, did. It was Shaozhou Tuhua. Why Genma knew Tuhua and not other more mainstream dialects of Chinese is a story for another day.) She sized up the family, approaching them as the rest of the villagers left.

"You may call me Cologne." The old woman said, glancing at the three. " And yes, I know what my name sounds like. The gods have a sense of humor in that sense. I am a teacher here in this village." She grinned, "I guess you could also call me a shaman or something like that. If there's trouble with magic or some other trickery, I'm the one you want."

"We're honored to be guests here." Nodoka said politely, being the one member of the family with social graces.

"No problem at all Madam." Cologne said, "So, tell me, which one of you three is an unfortunate victim of the Cursed Springs?"

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed, before Ranma lifted up her hand.

"Ah. I see." Cologne nodded, "So tell me, young lady, which spring did you fall into?"

Ranma blushed, taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage before speaking. "The… the Spring of Drowned Girl."

Cologne stared at Ranma, looking her over for a minute. "I see. So… young man then?"

Ranma nodded.

Cologne burst out laughing.

"Hey. This is serious! My son's a daughter now!" Genma said.

Cologne finished cackling, "Forgive me. But it is amusing, a bit. And truly, there are many worse curses you could have young man. Imagine if you had fallen into the Spring of Drowned Piglet? Or the Spring of Drowned Frog? Or the Spring of Drowned Fish? Yes. A fish did drown there. Magic, don't ask."

Ranma's eyes widened in horror, before nodding. "I guess it could be worse… still sucks though."

"It's karma, my boy." Cologne said, and noticing the three's confused expression continued. "Life will forever throw curveballs at us. Things happen by chance and luck. You gain good karma by taking fate's twists and turning it into something better. You gain bad karma by letting it hurt you or tear you down." She pulled out a pipe from somewhere, beginning to smoke from it. "Still, I'm guessing your current goal is a cure, correct?"

Ranma nodded, "I don't wanna be a girl. Err, no offence to you guys. I guess you're like, Amazons or something, girls aren't bad but-"

Cologne cut her off with a laugh. "I'm not offended boy."

"So, is there a cure?" Genma said.

Cologne took a long puff from her pipe. "I must confess something. The reason you were taken to me is because a week ago I informed the village that when a woman, her seeming daughter, and a man came to speak of Jusenkyo that they should be brought to me." She paused, letting the surprise sink in. "I have many talents, and one of those is a gift for prophecy. Now, let me tell you seeing the future is not like what you may have seen on TV. The future is not fixed, and is constantly changed by the actions of mankind and chance. What I see is how to make a future that is desirable to me. I can see what I need to do to get the result I want."

"Soo.. what?" Ranma asked.

"The three of you shall live here, work here, for the next two years. You will be part of the community. I shall train your son in Martial Arts and you," she pointed to Genma, "Shall train my great-granddaughter. In return, I shall help you by finding a way so that your curse troubles you no more." She took one last puff of her pipe, "So tell me, Saotome Family." Their eyes widened, for they had not spoken of their names to anybody in the village, "Do we have a deal?""

* * *

Ranma had to admit, the two following years had been fun.

After some talk, Genma and Nodoka had agreed to Cologne's terms. Ranma went along with it. It's not like they had any other leads. He had trained under Cologne, eventually becoming friends with her granddaughter Shampoo and that odd nearsighted suitor Mousse. He had learned a lot of crazy techniques and his martial arts skills and jumped up leaps and bounds since that day. And the **fights! **Ranma had fought, and defeated, some truly impressive and dangerous opponents. The twelve year long "Training journey" was finally coming to an end though. Genma and Nodoka had both expressed interest in returning home once Ranma found his cure. Apparently stable village life had finally made them homesick enough.

Still, that was for later, right now Cologne had dragged him out into a shed with nothing but a single fire pit in the center.

"So, Ranma." Cologne said, "It's been two years."

"Yup. Been pretty fun Granny."

"Which means it's time to fulfill my terms of our deal."

"You have the cure!" Ranma said, his voice getting an excited edge.

"I don't have it. These curses are given for a reason, it's all Karma my boy." Cologne ignored him rolling his eyes, "What I do have, however, is a way to foresee how you can solve the problem on your own."

"Oh. So you'll see where my cure is and I'll go get it?"

"Something like that." Cologne said, lighting the fire pit up with some trick. In a few short moments there was a large blaze cheerfully crackling. "The fire will allow me to show you the necessary information of my prophecy. You should see an image pertaining to it once it's ready."

"Oh. Like that fire in Sailor Moon." Ranma said.

Cologne gave him a strange look.

"What?" Ranma protested, "Shampoo only orders Shoujo manga. Come on."

"Kids these days." Cologne said with a shake of her head. "Anyways. Focus on the fire. Eventually images should form in it."

"So, like, I don't need to take or smoke anything? I thought those were needed for these sorts of things."

Cologne rolled her eyes, "No Ranma. I'm not trying to get you high. I'm showing you a real vision, no mind altering drugs needed."

"OK. Got it. Just focus on the fire." Ranma gazed into the flame, watching it burn and flare. He stared at it, stared at it, and stared at it some more. Meanwhile Cologne had sat on the opposite side of the fire, entering some kind of meditative state.

One might think that one would get bored, but this was Ranma Saotome. He had learned the "Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire" speed technique while under the influence of the Full Body Cat Tongue! He could easily develop a laser like focus on something. And if staring at this fire would help him get cured then he would stare at it all day!

Fortunately, it didn't take that long. After around five minutes, an image started to appear in the flame. It wasn't even a vague flickering of the fire that reminded him of something. It was like somebody had projected an image directly onto it! It was a young woman, about his age from the looks of it. Short dark hair, wearing a yellow gi. She was performing a martial arts form, smiling as her limbs snapped through the movements. She was quite fast and skilled from what Ranma could discern. "I see someone…" He said.

"Good. You see the girl?"

"Yeah." Ranma said. "Who is she?"

"I do not know her name." Cologne said, "However, I can now see what you must do Ranma Saotome. In order for your curse to trouble you no longer you must travel to your mother and fathers birthplace. Once there you must receive a kiss, willingly given unprompted, from her-"

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

Part 1: Boys and Girls

Akane got of the train, doing her best not to look excited as she wandered down to the college's campus. She knew his schedule, he was off classes now.

Oh was he going to be surprised to see her! Their two year anniversary had popped up just last week, and it had been quite an occasion. She smiled as she remembered the date they had enjoyed. But she wanted to spend more time with him, ever since he had left school they hadn't seen each other near as much as they were used to. Sure, he often talked about how he missed her, but that just encouraged her more!

She brushed adjusted her dress, and checked to see if her hair was still in place after the train ride, and headed down to check if maybe he was at one of the small cafes on campus catering to students.

Akane couldn't wait to finish High School and come here herself.

"Hmm?" Something caught her eye, "Ah!" There he was! He was at one of those little cafes. He was sitting at one of the outdoor tables. She ran over to him, her smile growing. "Hey! Tatewaki!" She called out… before suddenly stopping. Akane's eyes took in what she saw. Everything that was there.

And she screamed.

* * *

"It feels nice to be in our homeland again, I will admit." Nodoka said.

Once Cologne had delivered her prophecy, the Saotomes had started the process of moving back to Japan. It had taken about a month to pack up, say good-bye to the friends they had made (which had ended up being a big going away party by the end), and get back to Japan.

To Ranma's great surprise, his family actually owned a home in Nerima, the "birthplace" of his parents. It was an old and dusty house by now. The first week had been spent getting the building suitable for human habitation. Once the cleaning and setting of furniture was done, they finally had a chance to settle in and talk about their new goal.

"You know, I still have to wonder if that old bat is pulling our leg." Genma said, "A kiss, really?"

"It's rather romantic, wouldn't you think dear?" Nodoka said, "A kiss to break the curse! It's an old fairy tale!" She let out a fluttering sigh, "My dear manly son, finding true love and freeing himself with a kiss!"

Genma snorted, "Come on now. All he has to do is find the girl, kiss her, and the curse is gone!"

"Err, I don't think that'll work Pop. Granny said that it has to be given 'willingly' and 'unprompted.'" Ranma said. "From the sounds of it, I have to get the chick to kiss me without telling her."

"See Genma! It has to be romantic… oh my son is going to be a prince sweeping a princess of her feet!" Nodoka swooned, blushing and giggling like a schoolgirl.

Genma decided it was time to ignore his wife until she stopped giggling. "So boy, any idea where this magic girl is? A name maybe?"

Ranma shook his head, "Just what she looks like Pop." Of course, he hadn't told his parents the title that this little magic quest had given her.

It was odd, while Ranma could easily see that she was attractive, he didn't think she could be described as "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World". She was more… cute. Yes, that was how he'd describe her. She was cute, a girl just barely becoming a woman. A tomboy who had taken on some feminine traits, but would never give up the fiery parts of her that had earned her the title.

So why had Colonge described her in such a fashion?

"Well, either way, I think it might be best to finish your last year of education." Genma said. Sure, Ranma had studied at the local school at Nǚjiézú, but there was still one year left of high school. "Got to get a good college for a teaching degree if you want to follow in your old mans footsteps!" With a laugh Genma slapped Ranma on the back.

Ranma muttered something about foolish old men.

"Oh yes. I agree with Genma." Nodoka snapped out of her romantic reverie. "No son of mine isn't going to get a good degree."

"Of course Mom." Ranma said with a groan. He never had been able to say "No" to Nodoka. In the years the Saotomes had been wanderers, she had been a constant presence in his life. She kept Genma in check, and it was clear which of his parents he respected more. If Nodoka said education was important, then it was.

"I'll look around to see if there are any schools nearby that are good." Nodoka said, patting her son on the shoulder. "You should study for the entrance exam."

Ranma sighed, "Yes Mom."

* * *

A koi leapt out of the pond, landing again with a quiet splash. A bird sang a lovely melody. The sun was shining brightly, a cool breeze wafted through the air. The few clouds in the sky were pure white and fluffy. Indeed, it could easily be said to be a perfect day at the Tendo household.

Soun Tendo was sitting on the quietly, his gaze out into the yard, watching the fish. He was enjoying this lovely, peaceful day. The past two years had lead him to relish these quiet moments. Ever since his youngest daughter, Akane, had started high school her life had been a whirlwind of adventure. Martial artists looking for challenges, monsters and ghosts coming out the woodwork. His old Master had been freed, and Akane had impressed him enough (beat him up hard enough for groping her and stealing her underwear) for him to take her own as a student! Her skill grew leaps and bounds as she became even Soun's superior in Anything Goes. But now, things were calming down. She had managed to seal the Master away once more (she used a lot more TNT then he had) and settled a lot of the old grudges and rivalries. Now, Akane was focused on finishing High School and getting into a good college. Which meant that Soun had been thinking about the future of his family.

More then anything else, Soun wanted his three daughters to be happy. They needed to have safe and secure futures. The eldest daughter, Kasumi, had married Tofu Ono, a family doctor. The two had been making eyes at each other for some time. So when the courtship finally happened things progressed at a swift pace. They now lived in Tofu's apartment, and Kasumi was now studying medicine herself. Nabiki was by far the most fiercely independant of his children. She was in college and would probably take the business world by storm. Soun knew that she would be fine.

That left Akane, his youngest daughter. The one who had inherited his love of Martial Arts, his passion, and his compassion. He knew that she would be the one to inherit the family dojo. She was set for a career and livelihood, which left the other half of a persons needs.

Once she had entered high school, she had started dating that Tatewaki boy. And Soun couldn't help but approve. He was not only extremely affectionate towards his daughter, but a perfect gentleman. He was not exactly an unskilled fighter, and his family was well off enough that Akane could spend her days running the dojo without a single thought about money. Tatewaki had recently begun making hints to Soun that he wanted to be a bit more then Akane's boyfriend. Akane seemed to be picking up those hints, and he could tell she approved. Yes, Soun had thought, his daughters would all soon be happy doing what they wanted. He could retire in peace, letting the younger generation take over.

"**Get out!"**

Indeed, it was what he _had_ thought.

Yesterday Akane had come home, her face ash white, and ran into her room. She had not come out since. A mere ten minutes before hearing that shout, Tatewaki had shown up. He had immediately ran up to Akane's room.

And now Akane was screaming.

With a loud thud Tatewaki was thrown down the stairs back to the first floor. Soun figured the boy was thrown because he had landed on his back. Also because Akane jumped down and landed next to him, delivering a powerful kick to his gut in the process, a moment later.

"A-Akane…" Tatewaki managed to gasp out, pulling himself off the ground. "Akane, my beloved-" he didn't get to finish that sentence because Akane hit him in the jaw with a powerful right hook. Tatewaki flew through the air, landing in a crumpled heap a short distance from Soun. He quickly stood back up. That boy could take a truly impressive amount of punishment.

"Don't you dare call me that you bastard!" Akane screamed, her face red with anger.

Tatewaki looked confused, "Akane… what inspired you to such rage? You know my love for you is an eternal beacon against the darkness-" He was interrupted by Akane charging forward and kicking him into the air. He flew into the wall surrounding the house, before falling into the koi pond.

Akane didn't say anything, she just picked up the table, holding it over her head. Glaring at the point and waiting for Tatewaki to come out. The sodden boy pulled himself out of the pond. He still looked so **confused. **Soun began to wonder if, perhaps, Akane had misinterpreted whatever had made her so angry. He could see that the thought had occurred to Akane as well. Her expression softened, she stared at her boyfriend with a desperate pleading look.

"Please… Tatewaki… tell me what that was about." She said, tears forming in her eyes, "Please tell me I misunderstood, that she's a cousin or a friend or something **anything!"**

"Oh… Ah! Mariko, is she what has your heart set aflame?" Tatewaki said, "My dear Akane, you have naught to fear. You are forever in my heart and mind, my dear."

"S-s-so you weren't…" Hope dawned on Akane's face.

"My heart overflows with love. You are the fierce tigress, mighty and powerful. You stand by my side, dear Mariko she stands behind. Her strength supporting me. I can't **not **have bo-" He didn't get to finish the sentence, because Akane had thrown the table at him.

"You… **you two-timing son of a bitch!" **Akane screamed, her voice going hoarse. "Get out! Get out!" She fell to her knees, the tears she had held back until now finally coming out. "Out… out… get out…"

Soun could not believe how utterly clueless Tatewaki looked, his mouth was hanging open. He stared at Akane in complete disbelief. Did… did he really not understand why Akane was angry? Why **he **was now feeling angry? Soun had long known that Tatewaki would never be the smartest man the in world, but this spoke of a level of cluelessness that shocked him. "Mr. Tendo… could you help me explain things? I think dear Akane has some misunderstandings…"

"Son…" Soun shook his head, "No, Mr. Kuno, I suggest you leave now."

Tatewaki balked at Soun's cold words, "Mr… Mr. Tendo?"

"Did you not hear me? Leave! My daughter wants nothing more to do with you. Get off my property before I call the police!" Soun shouted, standing up. He was about ready to throw the boy out himself.

It seems that the while the threat of further physical violence from the Tendos didn't work, but the embarrassment of the police taking him away did. Tatewaki nodded quickly, marching past them towards the front door. "I… I shall return once Akane has calmed down."

"I don't think that will happen any time soon." Soun said, watching to make sure the two-timer kept his word and left. Once he confirmed that their house was free of him, Soun knelt down next his sobbing daughter. "Akane…" He said, patting her on the back.

"W-why Daddy… I thought he… I thought… why?"

"I don't know." He said. "I just don't know."

His daughter grabbed him, pulling him into a crushing hug. She sobbed and wailed, her words incoherent. Soun simply returned his daughter's embrace, letting her cry it all out.

* * *

Why did Nerima have so much water in it?

Ranma had, by sheer luck, managed to avoid getting drenched on no less than four occasions just far. Not to mention the canal which was just filled with liquid ready to drain his manhood away. Still, even with such trials he knew he needed to scope out the town he was living in now. It was best to get the lay of the land down before his mother found a school to enroll him into, so he didn't have to awkwardly wander around town like a clueless new guy if he ever went on social outing.

At the very least, he was hoping to find a place with good ice cream.

It was early in the morning and he had seen several people in school uniforms walk past. He hadn't paid much attention to them. Though more than a few had gawked at him, walking casually on the fence separating the sidewalk from the canal. His eyes lazily glanced over the area, he had stumbled into a residential part of town. So no ice cream here. He was about to jump down from the fence when he spotting something that made him stumble and nearly fall off the fence.

Her steps were heavy, her expression dark. It was as if she was ready and eager to explode at the world. She pointedly ignored everything and everyone around her. She hadn't spared the boy clinging to the fence a glance. She marched towards what looked like a school in the distance, her bag held tightly to her side. Even with that frustration, anger, and misery evident in her every move Ranma couldn't help but gawk at her. Because it was **her. **The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.

He had found her.

Ranma jumped down from the fence. Trailing her from a short distance. For a moment he considered calling out to her. However, demeanor was not that of a person willing to talk. She was dressed in a school uniform, so obviously she was a high school student like himself. He supposed this answered the question of which high school he'd be going to. He followed her, the two approaching the school which Ranma now knew he'd be studying at.

The sounds of excited chatter filtered through the air. Growing steadily louder as Ranma and the young woman approached the school. Ranma wondered if there was some kind of school festival or sporting event going on. He jumped up onto a nearby streetlight to get a better look at the school grounds. Once he saw what was going on, his jaw dropped. "What the…?"

* * *

Akane froze at the gates to Furinkan High. Around fifty to sixty boys had gathered a short distance from the entrance. She recognized boys from sport clubs, martial arts clubs… and the poetry club? What on earth were they doing here?

Each any every boy in the group suddenly perked up once they had noticed her coming onto the school grounds. The boys took a step forward, no different then a group of trained soldiers.

"Um, what's going on?" Akane asked, her speech breaking the dam. The boys charged as one, their battle cries unconventional yet still loud.

"I love you Akane!"

"Please go out with me!"

"You like strong guys! I'll show you how strong I am!"

"Hit me my love!"

Akane couldn't find words. Her mouth opened and closed. What were these boys… why were they rushing at her, weapons drawn? Screaming declarations of love with it! Did they seriously think that beating her up would-

"_If you win, I'll let you take me out on a date."_

Those words, **her **words, came back to her. What had been a fond memory until just two days ago came back to her. What had been a bit of flirting with a boy she had thought was cute… had come back to every horny boy in the school as an excuse to beat on her now that she was "available." How could anybody be so stupid? She didn't want to date any guy who beat her up! It had been a roundabout way to ask him out! Didn't they get that?

A horrible clarity came over Akane Tendo. Tatewaki had often liked telling that story… she sometimes thought he treated it more seriously than she did. Had he…? Had he, and by extension the male population of Furinkan, actually thought that he had "earned" the date by beating her? "Earned" the right to be her boyfriend?

He had. They did.

And now they were coming for her.

They were no different. All men were the same. Slobbering violent brutes, ruled by their hormones and lusts. They thought they could **own **her. They had no respect for any woman as a person. Just as a pretty accessory to brag about snagging to their buddies. Her rage boiled in her, her fists clenched tightly. She looked up to face the charging horde, her eyes burning with righteous rage. She tossed her bookbag aside. She wouldn't need it for now.

"You… you…. **men…" **Akane snarled, taking a step forward. "You worthless pathetic wastes…." Wastes of life. If they didn't treat her as an individual, then she would not either. Nothing but stupid, hormonal training dummies. She would **break **them.

"I hate men… I hate men… **I HATE MEN!" **She screamed, her own warcry canceling out pathetic hormonal cries of the boys. She took another step, and the ground cracked under her foot. The air was burning with the heat of her rage. They reached her, and Akane swung out her fist. It met the first boy, and he flew out of the crowd, sailed through the air, and crashed through the window into his homeroom. The next boy wasn't so lucky, she raised her leg up and kicked him down, embedding him into the ground up to his neck. The boy didn't care, he had gotten to see Akane's panties! The next boy she picked up, throwing him like a bowling ball he knocked over a dozen more. With that she screamed incoherently, cursing Tatewaki and the rest of the male flew in all directions, desperately jumping over her. Screaming cries of love and requests for a date, they didn't let up. For a moment it looked like they might overwhelm her from sheer numbers. Then a member of the kendo club made the mistake of attacking her. With a growl she ripped the shinai from his hands before kicking him in the testicles. Weapon in hand, she gained the advantage of reach and was able to much more effectively brutalize the boys.

The pile of testosterone exploded with a scream, boys flying into the air thanks to Akane's efforts. By now her body was encased in a glowing red battle aura, her shout having thrown all the remaining "suitors" into the air. Clutching the shinai like a baseball bat, she swung it at the boys as they came down. With a cry of "Men!" each impact sent a male flying, those unlucky enough to not hit a wall flew off into the distant horizon. Finally, there was silence.

Akane took a few breaths, letting the adrenaline finally die down. How dare those idiots bring up such painful memories! She should have hit them with the shinal harder…

The shinai.

Akane stared at the weapon she had grabbed and used expertly. She had never been the best with any sword forms, but the past two years she had gotten much better with them. After all she had been practicing… with…

"**Arrrgghhh!" **Akane screamed at the memories, memories of that traitor! "Stupid… worthless… **men!" **She slammed the shinai down onto the head of the boy she had embedded into the ground earlier, shattering the shinai and knocking him unconscious. Going back to pick up her bag, she stomped into schol. Cracks forming with each step, she then also accidentally tore the door to the school off. She threw it away, entering without any care about anything but her own frustration.

And just outside the grounds, a young man on a streetlight had watched the entire thing, his jaw hanging low.

* * *

"Back already?" Genma asked. He had been lounging on the couch while Nodoka got lunch ready.

"Y-yeah." Ranma headed down to the kitchen to help his mother.

"Something happen?" Nodoka asked.

"Oh… yeah…" Ranma pulled out some vegetables and began chopping them. "I found her. The girl. That needs to kiss me."

"Good job boy!" Genma said, "So you got it right?"

"Uh, no?"

Genma got out of his chair, "Well why not boy?"

"Because I didn't want to die?" Ranma said. "When I saw her she was brutalizing more guys than I could count screaming about how she hated men. Would **you **talk to a girl doing that Pops? Let alone try to kiss her?"

"Maybe she just had a bad break up?" Genma said.

"She kicked a guy into the concrete Pops." Ranma said as he finished up the vegetable chopping.

"So, she knocked him down?" Nodoka asked.

"No Mom. She kicked him into the concrete. As in, he was buried." Ranma said, "Like that one time Mousse hugged Shampoo every time she sneezed."

"Oh dear." Nodoka was frowning. "And she said she hated men?"

Ranma nodded.

"Bad breakup. Really bad." Genma said.

Nodoka walked out of the kitchen, slapping Genma on the back of the head. "Please be serious Genma." Then Nodoka noticed that she had left the kitchen with her son in there. "Ranma! I was making lunch!"

Too late, "Oh don't worry Mom I got it." Ranma was already checking the rice cooker and pulling out pans.

Nodoka sighed, settling into the couch next to her snickering husband. "So… Ranma, do you have any plans for this?" She wanted a cure for her sons curse as much as the rest of the family.

"No idea Mom. Was planning to go to… Furinkan, I think that's the name of the school. How am I going to get her to kiss me though if she's like that?"

"Yes… the first part of any date is to get to know the girl… if her reaction to men is such violence…" Nodoka frowned. "How can you get to know her?"

"No idea Mom." Ranma said. "Maybe wait a while for her to calm down… if that happens…"

Nodoka noticed that Genma had a thoughtful look on his face. "Dear?"

"Oh… well… she's angry at men… right?" Genma's face split into a grin. It was a familar grin to the Saotome family. It meant that Genma had an Idea.

Ranma couldn't see his face, but could tell that the Idea had come to his father. "Pops… I don't know what you're thinking. But no. No. Let me repeat; Hell no."

"Genma, are you thinking of what I think you are?" Nodoka said incredulously. "Are you seriously suggesting…"

"Come now! When have I steered our family wrong?" Genma protested.

"Do you want the list Pop?" Ranma called out.

"If either of you have an idea that's better than mine I'll be glad to go along with it." Genma said.

Neither could find an answer.

* * *

"Stupid old man. Stupid. Stupid old man." Ranma muttered.

Passing the entrance exam hadn't been particularly difficult, Ranma was fairly bright when he pushed himself. With the cure for the curse dangling over his head there was no way he wouldn't pass it. So now he was a proud student of Furinkan High School. Of course, with Genma's plan in effect, his final year of high school had an "interesting" wrinkle.

Which was why he was currently walking to school as a she.

Wearing the school uniform, her hair tied up in a "cute" little ponytail. At least she had managed to get away without any makeup. How on earth did Genma have so many people in government positions owe him favors?

Genma's plan was simple to discribe. Get to know her as a girl. Once she had settled in, attempt to "introduce" her to Ranma. With the knowledge he had gained as a girl, sweep her off her feet and get the kiss and the cure. Simple, in theory.

In practice, Ranma wondered how long it would before everything exploded in her face. Still, it wasn't like she had any better plans.

With a long sigh, "Aiko Saotome" began her trek to her new school life.


	2. Making Friends

It was another day at Furinkan. Another day in which the desperate young men were gathered and ready for The Fight.

The Fight had existed for a week now. The purpose of The Fight was simple.

Defeat Akane Tendo, to "earn the right to date her."

Akane, herself the single most popular and beloved girl in school, had been the girlfriend of the most popular boy in school Tatewaki Kuno. Even after he had graduated they had been quite steady. However, the foundations of the school had been shaken once the word had gotten out that Akane had broken up with him.

The most commonly accepted reason for the breakup was that Tatewaki had slacked off in his training, becoming weaker than Akane. Once this happened she dumped him for the crime of not being the strongest male in the district. This, of course, in no way applied to reality since Akane had in fact far surpassed her ex-boyfriend since around a week after the first date. However the chauvinism of teenage boys did not allow the idea of a boyfriend being weaker than "his" girl.

With the title of "strongest" up in the air, the boys at Furinkan who desired her took up the mantle. Just as he defeated her in the judo club, they would defeat her! And each and every boy was so sure once she fell they'd be in perfect love and they'd never slack off. So Akane would love them forever.

Nobody ever said Furinkan was filled with Japan's best and brightest.

With a shout of "I love you!" the boys charged at the target of their love. Akane had entered the school grounds with a grim determination, staring at the charging horde.

Surely today would be the day, they collectively thought, that she falls to their might and will love them.

"**Happo-Fire Burst!"**

There were no survivors.

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Part 2: Making Friends

Ranma, alias "Aiko," heard the explosion. However, looking around the students heading to school around her didn't really react. So, figuring it was something normal, she kept up her usual pace.

Still, she couldn't help but stumble in surprise at the sight once she crossed the gates. There was now a smoldering crater in the middle of the school grounds, the moaning and unconscious bodies of boys scattered everywhere. There was one young man who wasn't laying down in agony, but that was mainly because was running around in a panic. Because his hakama and shinai were on fire.

Why the kendoka didn't just drop the flaming sword was beyond Ranma's comprehension. Maybe he was an idiot.

"Help me!" The burning boy ran towards the girl who Ranma was being forced to crossdress to meet. "Please Akane Tendo!" Well, now Ranma had a name, at least.

Akane noticed the boy was on fire, and her expression changed from anger to concern. "Oh! Ah! Um… I'll go get the extinguisher!" She turned and began to run to the school.

The boy's face split into a grin, Ranma's eyes widened as she saw the boy lift up his flaming shinai. "Thank you my love!" He brought the shinai down… only to hit nothing.

Akane had stepped to the side once the attack had started, she turned back to face the boy and Ranma recoiled at the sheer **hate **on her face. Without a word she kicked the boy off into the distance. Ranma heard the sound of a splash a moment later, she had kicked him into the canal it seems.

"I should have known…" Akane said darkly, before turning on her heel and marching into school like nothing had happened.

"Well, I guess that answers that question." Ranma said, walking past the battered boys. "They're idiots." She walked into school, her head held up, taking care not to give the walking hormones a glance.

She did have to kick one who tried to look up her skirt though.

* * *

"OK class, today we have a new student today." Her homeroom teacher announced, "Please give her a warm welcome."

Akane's eyes widened a little at the girl who came in. She was sure more than a few people had.

She was short, but that wasn't exactly a mark against her. "Petite" was the word Akane would use. She had a figure that many girls would kill for, and a natural beauty that shone even though it was obvious that she was wearing no makeup. The girl bowed in front of the class.

"Hello. I'm Aiko Saotome. I've been studying in China the past two years. I hope we can get along for the senior year. I practice my family's style of Martial Arts. My other hobbies are cooking and drawing."

Akane gasped, Aiko's eyes were focused directly at her! _Does she know me? _She thought, then she felt herself flush with embarrassment. _She probably saw me this morning. Great. I bet she thinks I'm some kind of violent maniac. _

Aiko nodded as the homeroom teacher instructed her to take a seat. Akane found she couldn't look away. After all, Aiko was moving with a natural grace that was turning quite a few heads. Akane scowled as she noticed a few boys giving her looks. As if she would let anybody else be victims of the sludge known as the Furinkan High male student body.

Aiko took her seat, and class began.

* * *

If Ranma received one more note she was going to kill someone. Dozens of little papers asking if she wanted to have lunch with him. Notes asking if she had a boyfriend, as if the thought didn't make her shudder, notes asking what sort of "tricks" she had picked up in China. **Those **notes she incinerated with a burst of hot ki. She couldn't remember this kind of obnoxious attention from school at Nǚjiézú. Had she been in China so long she had gone native? Was this kind of behavior normal in Japanese culture?

If it was then she was seriously considering immigrating.

Still, the bell announcing lunch had come, so hopefully she could accomplish step one of this plan. Standing up with her lunchbox, she walked past the hopeful gazes of so many boys to her target.

"Hi." She said to Akane, "Can I sit here?"

Akane looked up from her own lunch, looking a bit surprised. "Oh… um…. sure?"

Ranma pulled up a chair, sitting on the other side of Akane's desk. "So…" She decided it would be best to just ask out right, "What was with that?"

"That?" Akane asked, before comprehension dawned. "Oh… that." Her face split into a scowl.

"Um, err, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to…" Ranma mumbled. _Stupid! Way to make a bad impression! _ "Sorry…"

Akane shook her head, "No… no it's OK. It's not your fault. It's those stupid men."

"So what is it about?" Ranma said, "I mean, you don't seem to like it…"

"Of course I don't like it!" Akane looked around the room, glaring at the males in the classroom. "Those idiots somehow think that if they beat me in a fight I'll go on a date with them."

Ranma raised an eyebrow, "Why on earth with they think that?"

"Because…." Akane gripped the edge of her desk, not noticing the cracks forming. "Because… ugg… because I met my ex-boyfriend in a martial arts club, and I joked that he could take me on a date if he beat me in a sparring match."

Ranma frowned, "And so…?"

"And then I broke up with him. And within two days the biggest gathering of idiots ever to exist decide that assault is the best way to attract a woman." Akane pulled apart her chopsticks with a snort of derision, beginning the process of eating lunch. "I don't know what I ever saw in men. They're all pigs."

Ordinarily Ranma would at least attempt to defend her birth gender. However, the notes and leers from the boys in her class had caused her to nod in agreement. "Oh my god you're so right. I've been getting harassing little notes all morning." Her own frustration on unwanted advances had caused her to sympathize with the plight of the girl in front of her. "Do these guys really think I can't tell exactly where they're looking as they ask me in cute little words if I'm seeing anyone?"

"Oh you poor thing." Akane giggled a bit in sympathy. "I guess you're just kind of doomed to... stand out, as it were."

"I really wish I didn't. These things are a giant pain. Wish I was just flat chested or something..." Ranma sighed, opening her own lunch. "Granny would be saying it's just Karma right about now..."

Akane smirked, "Wonder what you did to deserve that kind of karma then?"

"Probably a mass-murderer in a past life." Ranma said.

"If that's what you did, then what did I do?" Akane asked.

Ranma looked thoughtful for a minute, "Killed the dinosaurs?" She finally suggested.

This caused Akane to laugh for the first time in a week. "Yeah I guess that's what it has to be huh."

* * *

With lunch over it was time for what Ranma had been dreading. Gym class.

The gym teacher looked at the doctors note Ranma had handed her, her expression somewhat less than believing. "You have a medical condition… that doesn't let you take hot showers."

"That's right." Ranma said. "I'd rather not avoid gym class… so is there a private stall I can change and shower in?"

The note was authentic, a doctor had owed Genma a favor, and the teacher couldn't find any reason that Ranma might be lying. Other than an extreme sense of shyness, and there would be much easier ways to get out changing in the normal girls locker rooms.

"Fine, Saotome. There's a few changing rooms for handicapped kids down this way. I'll let you use one."

"Thank you." Ranma bowed, sighing in relief. She didn't know what she would have done if she had been forced to change with the rest of the girls. Well, other than try not to imagine her mother's nods of approval. She quickly ducked into the private changing room. A cold shower and swift donning of the gym clothing followed.

She ran out to the field with the girls in class, Akane noticed her and waved her over. "Hey Aiko! Join up with me!"

"What's going on?" Ranma asked.

"We're playing badminton today." Akane pointed to the stack of rackets. "Come on. Let's team up."

Ranma picked up a racket. "Never played it."

"Well it's easy to get. You hit the birdie onto the other side of the net, and if your opponent doesn't knock it back to your side then you get a point. First to twenty-one points is the winner." Akane said, "Don't worry, I won't be too tough on you."

The other girls had already paired off and were starting to play, Ranma picked up what she guessed was a birdie.

"Ready when you are!" Akane called out from the other side of the net. "You want to serve first?"

Ranma grinned, "Sure." The racket was pretty light, same with the little birdie. She felt a little bad for Akane for a minute… but then shook her head with a smile. This was just a game, after all. She flicked the birdie into the air, before swinging the racket at it with a loud crack! The birdie flew towards Akane's side of the game field at such speeds that it couldn't even be seen. Yet… Akane moved to intercept it! With an equally loud crack the birdie was sent flying back to Ranma at supersonic speeds. This time Ranma knocked it up high into the air, giving her time to stare at Akane.

Akane gave Ranma a confident smirk. "Don't you want to play Aiko?"

"Hah! Bring it Akane!"

It could be said that the first Martial Arts Badminton match was played that day. It didn't take long for the rest of the girls to stop their own matches and gawk at the sight. Akane was bouncing around the small field, smacking the birdie so fast some onlookers were amazed the thing didn't break. Ranma had at one point knocked the birdie into the air and was ready to spike it down when Akane warned her about it being against the rules for her to hit it twice before reaching Akane's side. Luckily it still barely managed to avoid falling into Ranma's side, So Akane bounced it back, and the back and forth resumed.

Finally, a single small slip up occurred. Akane got a feint in and made Ranma think she was going to knock the birdie to the left… and then Akane snapped it to the right. The birdie hit the ground, to Ranma's shock, and promptly exploded on impact.

"Point for me!" Akane said, jumping for joy just as the bell signifying P.E was over rang. "And it looks like I win by default."

"Oh come on." Ranma grumbled. "Stupid game…" She pointed at Akane, "J-just you wait until we play Volleyball! I'll beat you then!"

"Sure thing Aiko." Akane said, seeming to find Ranma's pouting over her loss amusing.

* * *

Akane had to admit, Aiko was cute when she pouted.

The rest of the school day, that the new student kept stealing glances at Akane. She knew this because Akane couldn't help but try and steal glances at her. There was just something about Aiko that Akane felt drawn to. The girl's twinges of nervousness did little to hide the confident control Akane could see behind her every movement. Akane wanted to see more of the girl, to **compete **with her.

It had always been an annoying aspect of her life. She supposed it was inevitable with her dealing with old fashioned types like the average professional martial artist. So many of her opponents had underestimated or insulted her because she was a girl. She had proved them wrong, of course, but more than one jerk had dismissed her victory as him holding back against a girl.

Now comes Aiko, a girl who claimed to study martial arts, and if the day's P.E class had been any consideration, was at least Akane's equal in athletic ability. Akane wanted to drag the girl to the dojo and see how she fares in a match. Still, that was for later, right now she needed to talk to her. Akane needed to learn more about Aiko before she would barge in and demand a fight. Etiquette demanded at least a week of friendship before a challenge to savage combat.

With school over Akane decided what she needed to do. She saw Aiko packing up her books and slinging her bookbag over her shoulders. "Hey!" Akane called her attention, running across the classroom. "Aiko."

"Hmm?"

"Want to go somewhere?" Akane asked with a smile.

"Wh-what?" Aiko stammered, a faint blush forming on her face. She looked absolutely adorable. Akane wondered what got her shy all of a sudden… maybe it was easier for Aiko to interact with people in the structured setting of the school.

"Yeah, you know. Maybe we could get something to eat. My treat." Akane offered.

The promise of free food seemed to shake Aiko out of her her shyness, a wide grin appearing. "Sure!"

* * *

"And here we are!" Akane had led Ranma to a small restaurant tucked away in a corner of the shopping district. "Here you can find the best okonomiyaki in Tokyo." She pushed open the door, and lead Ranma inside.

The place was small, but cozy. There were a few people having a late lunch, and instantly a cute waitress with long hair and a pretty kimono jumped in front of the door. "Welcome to Ucchan's. Oh! Akane!"

"Hey there sugar!" Another girl at the front counter, flipping okonomiyaki on a girl she's behind, waved to them.

"Come on in Aiko." Akane grabbed Aiko's hand and pulled her over to the front counter. "This is Ukyo. The one who makes the best okonomiyaki in Tokyo."

"Uh, hi." Ranma sat down, "You can… ah, call me Aiko. Aiko Saotome."

"Ukyo Kuonji." Ukyo gave Ranma a nod and a smile, "So Akane dragged you here huh?"

"She's new here." Akane said, "By the way I'll take a curry-chicken one please."

"Uhh… whatever you think is good." Ranma said.

"One surprise coming up." Ukyo said, "So what do you think of Nerima?"

"It's… busy." Ranma answered, "I mean…"

"You're more a country gal?" Ukyo said, "I know how that is. I didn't live much in the city until I moved here."

"Nerima's a great place!" The waitress popped in next to Ranma. "There's so many people and Ukyo's showed me so many amazing things. Like hot baths!"

Ranma stared at her, "Uh…."

"Meet Konatsu." Akane said, "Ukyo's boyfriend. He's lived a hard life."

"Boyfriend!?" Ranma stared at what for all appearances looked to be a pretty young girl. "Um, er… have you ever been to China?"

"China? No can't say I have." Konatsu answered, "Oh.. how wonderful it would be to travel to such far off exotic lands!"

Ukyo laughed, "Geez Akane. You're going to have to let somebody figure it out on their own eventually."

Konatsu looked confused, "Well I think it's perfectly self evident. I mean, sure I didn't know at first… but only because I didn't actually meet any other men for the longest time." Konatsu smiled, "I mean, I can always tell what gender people are easily enough." Konatsu leaned in towards Ranma and whispered, "Your secret is safe with me." Which promptly made Ranma lose around five years of her life.

**How?**

"Picking out crossdressers is the most useless talent I can think of." Ukyo commented.

Ranma laughed, a little too loudly, "I dunno it seems… interesting!"

Konatsu nodded and got back to doing… his… waitress job. Leaving the two and a half girls to continue their conversation.

"Oh yeah, Aiko, you studied in China right?" Akane said.

"Well, that's more like the capstone really…" Ranma said. "Me, Mom, and Pops spent pretty much my entire life as kind of nomads I guess. It was all for training in the martial arts, Pops wanted me to be the best of the best, so we went all over Japan. Then, three years ago actually, we headed to China to finish off the journey."

"Wow…" Akane said, "My dad never did anything like that…"

"That brings back memories." Ukyo said with a smile, "Wandering with my handmade cart, cooking okonomiyaki by the raging sea…"

"Well anyways, after a year of training we, uh, decided to settle down in a little. Well, kind of. There were a fair bit of people living there and everyone had extended family all through China… but still, I don't think there were more than a couple thousand at a time. It was nice and mostly quiet, past two years of High School were there. Learned a lot of stuff from Granny too… Anyways, after two years of that Mom and Pop decided it was time to head back to Japan, so here I am."

"Impressive." Ukyo said, flipping the food she was making over the grill. "Must have been a colorful life."

"Ehh it only really got interesting in China." Ranma admitted, remembering some of her old opponents like Herb.

"Funny. My life got interesting around two years back too when the Master got out…" Akane murmured nostalgically.

"So…" Ranma glanced back to Konatsu, "I'm a bit surprised to see a guy dress like that… I mean, I'm not judging or anything..."

"It's no big deal really." Akane said, "I mean, Ukyo makes a pretty dashing guy too you know."

"Well aren't you a charmer Akane." Ukyo said, grinning. "Yeah. I guess it makes me and Konatsu a perfect little pair huh?" Akane and Ukyo laughed in that way that friends laughed at an old joke. "Anyways, here, want to see how much of a hunk I can be?" Ukyo pulled out a wallet, retrieving a photograph and handing it to Ranma.

It was a group shot of six people. Ranma recognized Akane and Kontasu, and she quickly realized the handsome young man standing next to Konatsu was Ukyo. The other three though.. one was a tall boy in a hakama, his arm around Akane's shoulder. A somewhat scruffy young man with a bandana holding up his hair, and another girl with long black wavy hair tied up in a ponytail next to him. "Other friends of yours?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo nodded. "Yeah, that's Ryoga Hibiki over there…" Pointing to the bandana boy, "Kodachi Kuno, she kind of has a crush on him, and there's her older brother Tatewaki. He's Akane's boyfriend."

A brief silence fell over Akane and Ranma once she finished that sentence.

"Hmm? Did I say something?" Ukyo said.

"Ah… Ukyo…" Akane said, "I, um, broke up with Tatewaki."

"Whaaat!?" Ukyo said, "Are you serious?"

"Y-yeah…" It was quite a change, Ranma noticed. She known Akane for a day, really. But she had managed to see a fairly broad range of emotions. There was her anger at the idiots attacking her. That had been a white hot rage that Ranma wanted to stay as far away from as possible. Yet there had also been friendliness, a competitive nature, and a smile that Ranma found herself liking. Yet the emotion on Akane's face right now was almost like she was sick.

"Wow. I never would have thought. What happened?" Ukyo asked.

If anything that sick expression grew more intense. It would not have surprised Ranma if Akane just started vomiting. "I… um…"

Ranma frowned, realizing that maybe this wasn't something that could be talked about with a near total stranger. "Um, it's OK. I don't think it's any of my business…" She had known that the boy in the photo was Akane's ex-boyfriend, but she could already tell that the circumstances behind it were not happy.

"No!" Akane said, "It's fine Aiko. You're my friend too… both you and Ukyo can hear this." Then Akane noticed that Konatsu was trying to slip out, "You too!" She shouted to him. Upon hearing that Konatsu smiled a bit sheepishly. The rest of the people in the restaurant began the practice of suddenly no longer hearing a private conversation. "He…" She took a deep breath, "I found… I found him cheating on me."

Konatsu gasped, while Ukyo looked flabbergasted. Ranma just scowled, growing an instant dislike for the boy in the photo.

"That doesn't make any sense…" Ukyo said, "I mean…. the guy was kind of **obsessed **with you. Real possessive."

Indignation flashed, "He seemed to think that I'd be just fine with him two timing me. He had the goddamn nerve to come to my house and tell me he loved us both." Ranma noticed her hands were gripping the counter hard enough to leave indents.

"That's…" Ukyo frowned, "I… hmm…" She looked pensive.

"What?" Ranma asked.

"Kuno has… well, always been a bit of an old fashioned type, you know?" Ukyo said to a nodding Akane. "Styled himself a feudal samurai and all that. Heck, he even speaks like he's in some period piece."

Ranma noticed that Akane smiled slightly, in spite of her bad mood. "Yeah… I always thought it was a bit cute…"

"Well… you know how old feudal lords were…" Ukyo said, "Maybe… he didn't think anything of it. Like… you were going to be his wife… and he'd of course have some, um, mistresses?"

The faint nostalgic smile was wiped from Akane's face. "...oh… oh…." With a thud Akane's face was slapped into her hands. "Of course. Of **course. **Just like our first date, just like everything else." She muttered into her hands. "Of course. Just of course. Nothing more than another prop for his little perverted fantasy. Like everything else. **Men." **Akane's fists clenched, and Ranma could see the start of a glowing red aura building up around her. Ukyo and Konatsu noticed it as well. They were starting to sweat. Then Ranma noticed that everyone else in the restaurant was now slowly putting distance between themselves and Akane.

"Akane…?" Ranma said quietly. Part of her mind was already processing ways to calm her down if the girl went berserk.

"It's… it's not fair… why couldn't he have… why…." Akane's fists clenched. "Maybe… maybe if I had… I mean… if he thought that he needed someone else for… for that **need… **Maybe I'd… I wouldn't have learned… and we'd still…"

Ranma could tell what was happening now… Akane was starting to drown herself in her own negative emotions. She was blaming **herself **for what happened. Ranma had a pretty good idea what Akane was muttering about, and it made her sigh. Moping like this wasn't healthy, and Ranma knew that someone of Akane's physical ability would have an easy time causing plenty of unintentional property damage in her miserable rampage. She needed to snap Akane out of it, for her own good as well as others. So, with a grim expression, she executed one of the Saotome School's patented techniques for snapping people out of grim moods. "Rouse the Sleeping Dragon!"

She slapped Akane on the back of the head. Of course, to get the attention of a martial artist of Akane's calibur, the slap was hard enough to knock Akane into the counter. Ranma patiently waited for Akane to recover from the slap. If Ranma was her father, this would be the point where she'd deliver a snide comment to Akane and shift the self-loathing into much more productive anger at a punchable face. But Ranma was not Genma, and she didn't want Akane mad at **her. **So instead she sighed, and put both her hands on Akane's shoulders. "He's an idiot." She said.

"You don't even know him." Akane whimpered.

"True. He's still an idiot though." Ranma said. "He would have done the same thing no matter what. Sleeping with him wouldn't have made a difference except for how **you **feel about it. Probably would have made things worse."

That was enough, it seemed. Tears welled up in Akane's eyes, before she exploded into sobbing, practically falling over into Ranma. Crying in the shorter girl's chest. "It's not… it's not fair…" She heard Akane say between shuddering breaths.

The crisis passed, the patrons of the restaurant resumed properly ignoring that anything was going on and Konatsu and Ukyo resumed their work. Ranma, meanwhile, was inwardly panicking. She had expected Akane to calm down! Not latch onto her like this! She had brief flashbacks to Shampoo's more affectionate days, but this was different. Akane didn't seem to expect **anything **but for Ranma to continue to allow her to sob into her blouse. She glanced over to Ukyo, a silent plea for help given. Ukyo just shrugged, her expression a mixture of sympathy for Akane and bemusement at Ranma's shock.

Finally, Akane seemed to calm down a little. She pulled away from Ranma, blushing as she realized just what she had done in a public place. "Sorry…" She muttered to Ranma.

Ranma shrugged, "It's OK. Didn't hurt me or anything."

Akane gave Ranma a sunny smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Thanks Aiko."

"N-no problem…"

"Your food's done." Ukyo put down two plates of okonomiyaki in front of Akane and Ranma, "Feeling better now Sugar?"

Akane gave a slight nod before biting down at her okonomiyaki. "It's just… ugg. I'm sorry Aiko, I wanted to show you a nice time and I made it about **my **problems."

Ranma shrugged, "It's fine. It's, um, pretty easy to see you've been having a lot of them recently."

"That's obvious." Ukyo said.

"It's worse than you think." Ranma said, "Every day since the breakup a group of horny jackasses attack her, thinking if they beat her up she'll be their girlfriend."

Ukyo couldn't find a reply for that.

"Stupid men. Worthless, all of them." Akane mumbled.

Ukyo tried to give Akane a reassuring smile, "Oh come on Akane… not all guys are bad."

"Oh and I suppose that's why you crossdress so you get fair prices from your suppliers and keep your rent from getting doubled?" Akane spat back acidly. Ukyo winced but didn't counter that. "Face it Ukyo. Just because we're girls we're always going to be second best in **their **eyes. I'll always be a silly girl playing at being a fighter. Everybody will be looking at you wondering when you're going to stop this and get married so you can just cook for your man at home. Just because we're girls even if they think they love us they have no problem having a little fun on the side because they're **men **and it's their right."

"Konatsu isn't like that…" Ukyo said.

"Konatsu was raised as a girl." Akane replied.

Ranma wanted to speak up, saying that she wasn't like that. Except that, well, she didn't really look like a man at the moment. Then memories of before Jusenkyo drifted into her mind… things she had said to guys she had gotten into fights with.

"_You hit like a girl!"_

"_Get up you sissy!"_

"_Hiding behind your mommy? Some man you are!"_

Ranma wasn't generally a malicious person. She knew the value of taunts to throw off her opponent. And she knew that one of the best ways to throw guys off their game was to compare them to a girl. Had she really, even subconsciously, fallen into the patterns Akane was complaining about? She… she didn't really know **how **girls lived in Japan, did she? She had traveled around as a young man, and nobody batted an eye at **him **wanting to be strong and learning to fight. Even with the curse, she had spent almost the entirety of her time with it in Nǚjiézú. Everyone in the town had known about it and was understanding. Plus the way women were treated there was very different than even most of China, let alone Japan.

_And here you are, Saotome, using this girl to fix your own problems._

Ranma took that thought and forced it out of her mind. She cursed whatever magic that produced the cure for prohibiting Akane knowing about the process. If only that condition didn't exist, she'd gladly tell the girl about it and beg for a single simple kiss. Then she'd leave Akane alone…

_It's just a kiss, and she'll never have to know… "Aiko" will just leave, and we can go our separate ways._

"Uh, Aiko, your food's getting cold." Ukyo said.

"Oh. Sorry… got distracted." Ranma took a bite out of the okonomiyaki. "It's good." She said, giving Ukyo a smile.

* * *

Akane didn't know whether to feel relieved or die of embarrassment. She had just dumped all of her problems on her new friend in public! She was grateful that Aiko seemed to be understanding about the entire ordeal. Akane was also a little angry at herself, especially for that bit of self loathing Aiko had thankfully slapped her out of.

As much as Akane wished she could just sever her entire relationship with him, she **still** had feelings for Tatewaki. Feelings of love and affection don't just die overnight, even with a sudden betrayal.

They had left Ucchan's with a bit of a heavier heart then they had when they entered. Akane didn't know when they'd part ways. Aiko had been quiet since the talk, and seemed to be thinking about what to say.

"Aiko…" Akane asked quietly. "If… if he were to come back, apologize to me, and swear never to do anything like it again… and I accepted and got back together with him… would that make me pathetic?"

Aiko shrugged, "Can't say. Not really my place to judge."

"Well, what would you do?"

Aiko gave a frown, not seeming to like the idea. "Well.. I'd never have- Err… I guess if I **did **have something like that happen to me, I'd beat the crap out of the guy first."

Akane giggled, "Well, I've already done that."

"Now, would I get back with the guy? No idea. What about you? Would you?"

"I don't know either. I think… maybe? Maybe not." Akane sighed, "It'd make my life easier, to go back to the way it was, at least."

This made Aiko give a rather dismissive snort. "It wouldn't go back to the way it was, no matter what, I think. Even if you got back with him, even if he promised, I don't think you'd quite trust him the same way."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point." Akane said.

"So, Akane, can you do me a favor?" Aiko said, her expression suddenly brightening.

"What?"

"Let me see your house."

Akane stared at her new friend, "Uh…?"

"Well, we're going to be walking to school together from now on, so I want to see where you live!" She answered with a grin like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

The smile with infectious, and Akane couldn't help but smile in kind. "Sure thing. Follow me. I'll show you the way."

* * *

"_Tendo Dojo"  
_"_Anything Goes Martial Arts"  
_"_To challenge the owner to savage combat, please use the back door."_

To Ranma, it was like a little kid discovering Akane owned a candy factory.

Akane's family had their own **dojo! **It was the most amazing thing ever! She, who had always had to learn the family's style in empty lots or distant campgrounds, the idea of just being able to stand up and head into her own private dojo any time she wanted… it was like a dream.

"You look like you're about to start drooling Aiko." Akane commented.

Ranma, realizing she had been staring, glanced at Akane and blushed a little. "It's just… wow… this is amazing! Your own dojo Akane! Your family must be rich or something… wow… a house like this! So nice… with your own dojo!"

Akane blushed a little, but couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at her own family history. "This house has been in the Tendo Family since before the Meiji era. We've been studying in the dojo for generations."

To Ranma, who's only family heirloom was the katana her mother carried around, this was beyond amazing... she couldn't help but feel a little jealous that while she had spent her youth a wanderer, Akane had everything she had needed to become a great martial artist right at her fingertips. "I…" Ranma closed her eyes. It just wasn't fair.

_Damn you Jusenkyo. Might as well gain the benefit of this while I can._

Ranma bowed to Akane, "May I practice in your dojo?" Akane stepped back, surprised at the sudden formality. "I mean, not right now, but later.. when I want to or need to practice. I.. never really… please?"

Akane laughed a little, "Of, of course Aiko. You can come over whenever you want. We're friends you know?"

Ranma was glad she was bowing, so Akane didn't see the wince on her face "Thank you. I, um, think I'll head home now."

"See you tomorrow then?" Akane asked.

"Yeah." Ranma straight up, slipping on a glossy smile. "See you tomorrow Akane."

_Tomorrow, Akane, _Ranma thought, _I'll make sure I start paying you for all this._


	3. Martial Arts

"You've made friends with her already?" Genma said, grinning "Great job boy."

"Oh this is so romantic…" Nodoka said. "Secretly comforting her in her hour of need!"

"Yeah, whatever." Ranma said. Naturally his parents had asked how his first day of school/progress on getting a cure had gone. He hadn't meant to give much details. But his parents kept pressing him until he ended up revealing everything but how he had felt when Akane had hugged him and smiled at him.

**That **he was taking to his grave.

"At this rate you'll be cured in no time!" Genma said with a laugh.

"Look, Pop, I know you're excited. But come on, I need to be patient here." Ranma said. "I mean… it's just…" He mumbled as he seemed unable to articulate his point. "I'm going to go do some homework." Ranma stood up and headed over to his room.

However, upon reaching there he found he couldn't focus on the school work at hand. Math and English weren't very interesting at the moment. After realizing he was stuck on the same problem for ten minutes he shut the book and groaned. He was way too distracted. He needed to focus on getting a cure…

Finally, he gave into his listlessness. He pulled out a well used sketch-pad, noted that he'd have to buy a new one soon, and started absentmindedly sketching. Leaning forward and sighing, he thought back to the girl he had befriended.

"She's pretty cute." He murmured to himself.

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Part 3: Martial Arts

Breakfast was a trial at the Tendo Household.

Akane was in the kitchen, her mind focused on the task; Making a non-dangerous breakfast. She knew that if she let her control slip, her… habits… would come into play. If her habits came out then only disaster awaited for her poor father. Akane had become immune, after all, so she could make lunch for herself without much thought.

Still, today was a good one. Breakfast was perfect, and Soun noticed that Akane was in a better mood than she had been the past week. There was a real smile on her face as she served the rise and miso soup to him. She sat down and began eating her own much larger serving.

"How has school been?" Soun asked, deciding that since his daughter was in a better mood today then she had been, it was time to strike up conversation.

For an instant, Akane's expression darkened, before shaking her head and Soun could tell she was forcing herself to focus on happier matters. "I made a new friend. Her name's Aiko Saotome. She's a martial artist like me."

"That sound's wonderful." Soun nodded. He knew how desperately Akane treasured friends that shared her love of Martial Arts. "How is she?"

"Uh, I don't know. I think she's really good. She wants to practice here." Akane said. "She says she learned her family style her whole life."

Soun nodded, "Sounds interesting. Well, it has been a while since my baby girl had a challenge no?" He gave her a proud smile. Of course he was proud of her, she was his strong student. His daughter who had followed in his footsteps and had grown beyond what anything he had expected or hoped.

"I'm looking for a friend, not a punching bag." Akane said, though she was still smiling.

"Glad to hear that things are going well for you." Soun said, knowing of his daughter's competitive nature.

The frown returned. "Well… it's not perfect. I've been… getting bothered, a little, by some boys at school."

Soun scowled, "What kind of 'bothering'?"

"Oh, it's just, that they found out I'm single. So they're constantly asking me out. I turn them down, it's not that big a deal Dad. Just annoying."

Still, Soun frowned. "It's still not right. Maybe I should call the principal…"

Akane winced, "It's no problem Dad. I can handle it." Little did Soun know that Akane had gone to the principal the second day the fights started. It hadn't really ended well, and Akane had ended up just dodging haircuts and exploding pineapples. Again. "Me and the principal have never really been on good terms, you know."

Soun sighed, "Well, if you say so Akane. I know you can handle it." Tears began to fall down his face, "Oh my precious baby girl has grown to be such strong young woman! If only your mother was here to see this day!"

Akane finished her breakfast, "OK. Thank you Dad. I'm off to school now."

* * *

It was a cool morning. Akane took a deep breath. It was time for another day of school. Another day of dealing with… them.

"Hey, Akane!" A voice called from behind her.

"Ehh..?" Akane turned around, "Aiko?"

"Hey." Aiko waved, her schoolbag in hand. "You look surprised."

"Well, I am a little…" Akane said.

"Hey, I told you I'd be walking to school with you." Aiko said with a brisk laugh. "It's not too bad, I live a little bit back that way." She pointed behind her, "It's just a little detour."

"Thanks then." Akane said. Both of them began walking towards the school in pace with one another. She glanced over at her companion. Just like yesterday, it was clear that Aiko had put very little effort into how she looked. And it was also clear to Akane thanks to that hint of jealousy that Aiko didn't need to. Her shiny midnight-black hair was tied back in a simple pony-tail, but that alone was enough. Her face had not even a hint of makeup, and Akane could see her nails were perfect without and polish or treatment.

"So, what's your secret?" Akane asked.

"Eh?" Aiko glanced over to Akane, her eyes widening a little.

"How do you manage to look like an idol without any makeup or anything?" Akane asked.

"I what?" Aiko asked.

"You're probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen Aiko. And you do it all effortlessly! What's your secret?" Akane laughed, "I mean, if you can look like that without bothering with makeup and junk please tell me how."

Akane had to admit, Aiko somehow became cuter once she started blushing and stammering at the complement. "Wh-what about you? I don't see you wearing makeup or other girly stuff like that!"

Akane shrugged, "It's too much **work. **Getting all prettied up is nice and all… but most of the time I just would rather spend that time practicing."

Aiko glanced over to Akane, looking all the world like she wanted to say something. Yet she couldn't seem to find the right words to say, finally she shook her head and instead gave Akane a challenging grin. "Bet you can't run to school up on the fence." With a leap Aiko jumped up on to the fence alongside the canal. She balanced on the fence as easily as the ground.

Akane was torn, on one hand, she had just been directly challenged, on the other… "What if a boy sees up our skirts?"

"We kick em in the face for peeping?" Aiko suggested.

Inflicting righteous violence on perverts was a good enough suggestion. So with a grin Akane jumped up next to Aiko on the fence. Like Aiko she was perfectly balanced on it. The two girls smiled at each other, as they seemed to think about what to do next.

"Wow. You do have some nice balance." Aiko said.

"Never tried this before, but it's nothing I haven't handled before. I've won a dozen Martial Arts Figureskating matches. Fights on ice are way harder than this."

"Martial Arts what?"

"Trust me, Aiko, there are some **weird **fighting styles out there." Akane said, before an idea came to her. Leaning over, she poked Aiko on the nose. "Tag! You're it!" At the announcement of the new game, Akane jumped into the air. With a flip she landed on the other side of Aiko, still balanced on the fence. Sticking out her tongue, she dashed ahead of Aiko.

The game began, and the unspoken rules settled in. Running on the ground was forbidden, only fence running was allowed. Jumps were OK, as Akane flipped over Aiko several times when she tried to tag her. At one point Aiko stretched the rules, tagging Akane and leaping over a group of salarymen walking to work to land on the fence on the other side of the road. Akane responded with a laugh of her own, building up some speed and jumping over as well. From there it became a bouncing aerial game of tag, each one trying to tag the other in the air while still landing on the fences.

The entire game had been incredibly fun, Akane had not run around giggling like this since she was a little girl. It was just nice to be able to cut loose and have some fun. Still… in the end the laughing had to come to a close. Akane spotted the looming presence of Furinkan, and she could now hear the excited chatter of those stupid boys. In an instance her mood darkened, as she remembered the troubles of her life. The fun gone, she jumped off the fence, landing on the sidewalk. She'd approach the boys head on, as was her way. Akane Tendo did **not **back down.

"Akane?" Aiko instantly seemed to notice her darkening mood, landing beside her. "Um… it's those idiots, isn't it?"

Akane sighed, a very long sigh. "Yes. It's been the same all week. They rush at me, I knock them down, and tomorrow they do it again. It's just… just…" She gritted her teeth. She would not cry again. She had let it out yesterday, that was enough. Akane had allowed herself to be weak long enough. It was time to be strong.

"Isn't there anything you can do? Maybe talk to the teachers or-"

"Nobody can do anything about it." Akane growled, "Nobody's going to interfere with my life, they never have and they never will." While Akane knew she was popular with the student body (**too **popular, if these hormonal jackasses were any indication) she also knew that the staff only tolerated her… oddness about being a strong martial artist thanks to her good grades and behavior when not involved in a fight. Well, that and she'd beat up the Principal whenever he got out of line. As far as the adults at Furinkan was concerned, this was just another chapter in the weirdness that was Akane Tendo's life.

"**I **can do something about it." Aiko snapped.

Akane frowned, "No Aiko. You can't help me fight them off! If you do they might go after you too!"

"Then we won't fight them then!" Aiko snapped.

"We're- **I'm** not running away!" Akane growled.

"It's not running! It's the Saotome School Final Technique! Pull back and find a new plan!" Aiko said.

"How is that different from running?"

"Uh…. we come back later?" Aiko suggested, "Once we figure out a plan."

Akane folded her arms, "OK then. So you have any ideas?"

"Not one. I mean, if you beating up those morons for a week straight didn't convince them I don't know what will." Aiko said.

Akane rolled her eyes, "OK then. So you don't have any better ideas about stopping this."

"I can at least give you a break!" Aiko said, "Please, maybe if you don't fight them they'll give up." Aiko took a deep breath, before reaching out and grabbing Akane's hand. "Can you trust me?"

Akane nearly stepped back from the look in Aiko's eyes. There was a hard shining gleam in them. Her eyes are blue, Akane realized. "You… ah…" She couldn't help but be drawn into them. Why was she looking so serious…? "I… OK. I trust you, Aiko."

Aiko's expression changed to a warm smile. "Good. Tell me, Akane, how good are you at hiding your presence?"

"Um, pretty good." Akane had practiced a lot with Tofu. She still couldn't sneak up on **him. **But he was among were very few people she couldn't by this point. Idly she wondered if she could sneak up on Aiko.

"Do it, I want you to be as sneaky as possible." Aiko said.

"OK…" Akane took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing her presence inward. She slowed her breathing, and made her movements as silently as possible. Opening her eyes, she glanced at Aiko.

"Good. If you snuck off I'd have a hard time finding you."Aiko smiled, "Stick close to me." Aiko pulled Akane right next to her. Akane was now practically leaning against the shorter girl. "Keep as quiet as possible now." Akane slowly nodded in reply. She kept her gaze on Aiko, watching as the girl shifted into a strange stance, holding up her free arm and rising up on her tiptoes. Aiko slouched a bit, pulling Akane slightly down with her.

"Ready?" Aiko asked, her voice a whisper.

Akane nodded.

* * *

It was another lovely day at the market. There were quite some good deals going on. And if there was one thing Kasumi Ono was good at, it was finding deals.

In some ways, cooking for two rather than a full family was easier. Less food to look for, and she could afford to be more experimental with her dishes. On the other hand, it was harder to find good deals when she couldn't buy as much in bulk. Still, no matter what it was nice. While she knew it wasn't for everyone, Kasumi really did enjoy being a homemaker. She picked up a melon, tapping it to see if it was ripe. However, her shopping was interrupted.

Though she hadn't ever had much of an interest in martial arts beyond the basic self-defense her father had insisted she learn, Kasumi had long learned about sensing when people were following her. Especially with her husband's childish habit of sneaking up on everyone. She glanced behind her, nobody was there. She looked up, she couldn't see anybody on the roof-tops. With a shrug, Kasumi decided she must have imagined it, and continued inspecting her fruit.

Then somebody jumped up from behind the stalls and grabbed her.

* * *

The saw their goddess, their goal, their love, Akane approach. Today she was being oddly close to a new girl. The few in her class recognized her as Aiko Saotome, a transfer student who Akane seemed to have made friends with yesterday. They didn't pay her much attention. After all, she was pretty cute yes but she wasn't the perfect goddess of war Akane.

With cries of love, they charged at her. Ready to finally earn Akane's affection in battle. They charged even as neither of the girls made any move. Some of the closer boys noticed Aiko's scowl, the new student pulling Akane closer to her. With her free hand, Aiko reached into her book bag. With a sharp tug, a large cloth was pulled out of the bag.

The boys continued to charge.

Aiko was still glaring at the boys, they were just a few meters from her and Akane. Akane seemed to be doing her best to keep emotionless. With a flourish Aiko flung the cloth out, causing it to spread out and remove both girls from their sight briefly.

Then the boys suddenly skidded to a stop.

This was because the as the cloth fluttered through the air, it seemed to fade as it was pulled back away from where the two girls should be standing. However, there was not a single trace of Aiko or Akane anywhere. Both of the girls had vanished, without a single trace anywhere.

* * *

Ranma grinned as she quietly carried Akane around the slackjawed morons. They couldn't see her, couldn't feel her, and lacked the slightest bit of training to even attempt to find them. Once she had thrown the cloth over them, she had scooped Akane into her arms. Now she was carrying her to school.

Akane was not soft at all, Ranma realized. Despite having an obvious feminine figure, near every inch of her body was strong muscle. Ranma could **feel **the tension in her arms. It was unlike any other girl Ranma had interacted with.

Not that Ranma regularly held girls or anything like that. But she had decided that carrying Akane was nice, and maybe she could do this more often until the other idiots get a hint. Just to help Akane out. Of course. It feeling good was just a bonus. She quietly slipped through the school's front doors, before setting Akane down and letting out a breath. Several students suddenly turned to the two of them in shock, after all, from their perspective they had appeared out of thin air.

"What was that?" Akane said, her eyes wide with shock. Though there was a big silly grin on her face, "That was more than just concealing your presence, that was… the stance, and the way you pulled yourself in…. was the cloth…?" Akane began mumbling. Ranma couldn't help but laugh as she realized Akane was trying to piece together just what she had done.

"Come on Akane, we have class. We'll talk about it at lunch." Ranma grabbed Akane's arm, snapping her out of her focus.

* * *

Ranma had to admit it was impressive. Akane had slammed her lunchbox onto her desk and sat across from her a mere second after the lunch bell rang. "OK Aiko. Tell me what that was."

Ranma grinned, she had an audience. "'That', Akane, was a part of one of the Saotome School's strongest techniques." She pulled out a pen and paper, "The ultimate forms of the the Saotome School are divided into two branches." Akane looked down at the paper as Ranma wrote down the names.

"First, there's the Yamasenken." Ranma put down the characters meaning _'Mountain of One Thousand Fists'. _"It's not what I used. What I used was the second branch. The Umisenken." Ranma wrote down the characters meaning _'Sea of One Thousand Fists.'_

"Hmm… can't say my school has anything like that." Akane said, "The higher level techniques I know are all just part of Anything Goes. Never divided the school into two branches."

"Well that's because the Saotome School is kind of slapdash." Ranma laughed, "It's a weird mix of Kenpo, Ninjutsu, and whatever stuff Pop made up."

"So your dad invented it?" Akane said, "The style you know?"

"Yup. Pop was really impatient when he was younger. Bounced around from dojo to dojo until he ended up making his own slapdash martial arts style. Pretty effective though. Helped him get ahead when he kept getting run out of towns."

Akane laughed at that last sentence. "So how does it work?"

Ranma grinned, "Hey now. These are high level secrets of my martial arts. I can't just tell you how I do it."

"Come on…" Akane let out an exaggerated whine, "That was one of the coolest things I've seen. I need to figure it out. I mean, I think I've got the stance down. Got to test that in the dojo… and the cloth…"

"Oh geez. Maybe that was a mistake." Ranma said, though still smiling. "Should have tried something else."

"What I really want to know is how you managed to hide me as well." Akane said, "Hiding not just your presence, but mine, even though I was right in front of them…" She closed her eyes in thought, "You did something to me…"

Ranma shrugged, "Well, I guess I can tell a bit more about it." Sure, her dad may not approve of her talking about his secrets. But Ranma could deal with Genma's whining. Plus, it would make Akane happy. _If she's happy she'll be more receptive to kissing me. _Ranma shook her head, forcing that thought out of it. "First off, the two branches were made as a set. The Yamasenken was developed first, and then later Pop developed the Umisenken as the perfect counter."

"That sounds interesting." Akane said, "Wonder why he did that?"

Ranma shrugged, "Can't say. I remember when Pop taught me the Yamasenken. I was sure it was the ultimate martial arts technique. I thought I was unbeatable. It's really strong, you know?" She laughed, "Then he told me to come at him, he used the Umisenken and kicked my ass harder than I had ever been before or since."

"Hmm, maybe it's a way of teaching humility? Show the student that they still have a long way to go." Akane suggested.

"Who knows with Pop. I don't really get him. When it comes to Martial Arts, the man's a genius. But he's a complete boneheaded moron in the rest of his life. Keeping him in line is Mom's full time job." Ranma shook her head, "Anyways. The point is that the Yamasenken and Umisenken were made together and express two different styles and philosophies."

"I can guess that from their names." Akane said.

Ranma couldn't help but give Akane a smirk, "Yeah, I bet. But if you don't understand the core of the two arts, you'll never master them."

"Oh, and what is the core?" Akane smirked right back. "It can't be as silly as Martial Arts Tea Ceremony."

Ranma decided to ask her about that later, "Well, it's a bit embarrassing, in all honesty. Pop was always a bit of a... less than stellar example of morality. Mom did a lot to straighten him out."

If Akane was bothered by the admission, she didn't show it. "Well, I can't really throw out any complaints like that. **My **school was founded by a perverted old panty thief." Akane held up a finger, "One high level technique of the Anything Goes school, 'Catching the Divine Breeze', with it I can deflect powerful strikes using a single finger. Created by my illustrious Master to flip up skirts."

"Well," Ranma said, one eyebrow raised, "I can safely say **that **isn't one of Pop's vices." Despite some of Nodoka's stranger ideas about manly behavior. "So, this is how the two styles work in reality. I didn't understand how the process worked until I saw it." Ranma put the pen to the paper again, writing down the names again using different characters. "Yamasenken." '_Way of the Noisy Thief.' _"Umisenken." _'Way of the Silent Thief.'_ "The secrets of the Saotome school." Ranma said with a dry fanfare.

"So…" Akane stared at the paper.

"The Yamasenken, the mugger who smashes down the gates and grabs everything in sight. The Umisenken, the silent burglar who sneaks in and takes your valuables without you ever noticing." Ranma said in a completely deadpan tone. "Pop is something else. He invents techniques that even impress Granny, all for the purpose of being a better petty thief."

"So you were able to keep the boys from noticing me because…"

"Because what good is a thief sneaking off invisible with their stolen goods if they can't make the stuff they're carrying invisible as well?" Ranma said, "I've never tried it with a living thing before. So you hiding your presence helped, I think."

Akane looked like she had just been given candy. "I see! Yes that would work. Now how did you..."

"Sorry, have to keep some secrets." Ranma said, ignoring Akane's exaggerated mock-despair. "Only Saotomes can learn the big secrets of the Saotome school, you know."

Akane sighed dramatically, " Then I'll simply have to force my way into your family somehow then Aiko."

It took all of three seconds for a way for Akane to become a Saotome to rush into Ranma's head, and her face turned red as she quickly looked down at the paper to make sure Akane didn't see the blush. "Heheheheheh… good luck with that." Ranma managed to mumble before forcing the blush to fade and looking back at Akane's face.

She, of course, had no idea about the havoc that her joke had played on Ranma's mind. "So, how about I show you a little trick, just to be fair." She reached into her blouse and pulled out… an old fashioned looking firecracker. It was round, wrapped with brown paper and had a fuse on top. Ranma quickly noticed the entirety of the class that was eating lunch as well instantly backing away against the walls. "It's not lit!" Akane said with a groan once she noticed the terror in their eyes. "Honestly I'm not the principal." she said with a huff, holding out the firecracker to Ranma.

"Uh... is this some Hidden Weapons thing?" Ranma said.

"Nope. It wasn't anywhere until I did the technique." Akane put away the firecracker. "And now it's gone."

"OK. That's… weird." Ranma said, "You… uh… how?"

Akane laughed, "Tell you what. Since you were so nice, I'll let you look at the scroll that has the technique on it."

Ranma's expression brightened at the thought of picking up a new martial arts technique. "R-really?"

"Yup. Come over to my place after school, oh, is that OK with your parents?"

Ranma nodded, "Sure. Pop loves it when I find new techniques and Mom's not going to argue either."

Akane smiled, "Great!"

Ranma took a moment to enjoy the simple happiness Akane showed, "So… um… what did you mean by you're not the principal?"

"Oh. That. Long story."

* * *

Once school ended, Aiko immediately began following Akane. It warmed her heart to see somebody so eager. Aiko had run ahead of her and was now leaning against the gates to the house.

"Follow me." Akane said, taking Aiko's hand and leading her into the Tendo home. "I'll introduce you to my dad, get some snacks made, and then I'll show you the scr-"

**"Akannnneeeeee!"** Two blubbering, sobbing wrecks that were once grown men charged out of the front door the instance she had opened the gates and walked though.

"She's gone she's gone!"

"My baby! Noooooooo!"

"Kasumi's been- Kasumi's been- **_Kasumi's been-"_**

"Meet my father, Soun Tendo." Akane said dryly to Aiko, pointing to the sobbing and blubbering man at her feet. "And Dr. Tofu Ono, my older sister's husband." Pointing to the man running in circles screaming _"Kasumi's been-"_

"Are they… always like this?" Aiko asked.

"Not really…" Akane sighed, "I think something might be going on with my older sister."

"The Kasumi they're screaming about?"

"Yeah." Akane said, "Dad has always been really protective of us… and Tofu's always a bit weird about Kasumi." She glanced down at her father, "Dad! Stop this!" She grabbed Soun by the front of his gi and shook him. The crying quickly stopped.

Aiko, meanwhile, walked over to Tofu. She grabbed his collar, noticing his fogged up glasses and panicked expression. After a moment's thought, she slapped him in the face a couple times. His glasses cleared up and his noticed that someone he didn't know had just slapped him. "Um, hello Miss?"

* * *

Akane sat down some tea in front of her family and guest, once things had calmed down she had taken charged and ushered everyone into the family room so they could talk. Introductions were made and a few glares from Akane stopped Soun from bursting into tears again. "OK, Dad, Tofu, what is with Kasumi?"

Tofu took a few deep breaths. He needed to stay calm, "She… she went out shopping and didn't come back!"

"Is that it?" Aiko said, "Maybe she got distracted or went to see a movie?"

Tofu shook his head, "She went shopping **this morning. **She's been gone for hours now."

Akane frowned, she had to admit that was a bit worrying. "So this isn't just like last time when she was just catching up with some friends from High School."

"That's right!" Soun shouted, tears streaming down his face. "It's much worse! I found… I found...!"

"Aiko." Akane said. Aiko nodded and slapped Soun in the back of the head. This stopped the tears quickly enough.

"What did you find Dad?" Akane asked.

"This!" Soun held up a cardboard box, the words _"For the Butch"_ were written on it. "It was in Kasumi's old room. And inside there's…"

Akane took the box, opening it up. Inside there was small package wrapped in nylon. She unwrapped it and realized that it wasn't just nylon.

"Pantyhose?" Aiko asked, "Why are you being given pantyhose?"

Akane groaned, this was exactly what she needed. Wrapped up in the pantyhose was a ring and a letter…

"Kasumi's wedding ring!" Tofu said, "Oh god she's-"

"She's fine! The jackass isn't going to do anything." Akane growled, picking up the letter.

_I have your little homemaker, if you want to have good meals again head up north to that waterfall._

_Bring the old freak, you know what I want._

"That… oh. My daughter's kidnapped!" Soun started crying again. Aiko glanced at Akane, who just shook her head. There was no saving him.

"Someone kidnapped Kasumi!?" Tofu's eyes fogged over. He was about to panic again when at Akane's nod Aiko slapped him again. "Ah… um, thank you Miss Saotome."

"I can start punching you if you need it." Aiko helpfully suggested.

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Tofu said, "I… I need to stay calm."

"Right. If you want to help me save your wife then you'll have to stay calm." Akane said.

"So… she's in danger?" Aiko said.

Akane shook her head, "I don't think so. I hope **he's **not that stupid."

"Who…?" Aiko asked.

"The idiot who kidnapped my sister." Akane crushed the letter in her hands, "Pantyhose Taro."

* * *

"Would you like some tea Pantyhose Taro?"

The man named Pantyhose Taro glared at his hostage.

It had been a busy year for him. He had desperately tried to find loopholes to the stupid law that meant he had this idiotic name. Nothing had come, and running for his life from that crazy girl Rogue hadn't helped matters. How was he supposed to know those dumb things helped with her back pain?

Asking the freak hadn't helped, trying to trick him hadn't helped. Bribing hadn't helped (he just took the panties and ran). The old pervert proved remarkably resistant to injury so beating the crap out of him didn't do anything. That left one thing, blackmail

He knew that the girl was basically the chef and sole maid of the home. There's no way that hedonistic old letch would want to lose the biggest source of his comfort when not engaging in his perversions. As such, if Happosai wanted his favorite housewife back he **would** give him a new name!

The plan was foolproof, if he thought so himself. Sure, he'd probably send over his student over and she and her fake boyfriend would come over (Seriously, nobody could have that much bad taste in men. He **had **to be her Beard.) But Taro was pretty sure that with the latest addition to his power he would handle her. But it would be several hours, maybe even a day, before she showed up.

Of course, that didn't mean that this was easy relaxing wait for the girl and the letch to show up. Somehow no matter how tightly he tied Kasumi, she always got out in a few minutes. Shoving her in a cave and slamming a boulder in front of it held her for half an hour. Settling her down in a ravine with sides so slick it was impossible to climb out of managed to keep her for a full hour!

Yet she didn't try and escape, she kept up that placid smile and started cooking some food, and was now offering him tea. "Um… OK?" He accepted the cup and sipped it.

"Oh this is so exciting! I haven't had an adventure like this since that nice boy Kirin showed up! He was so smitten with me. It was too bad I had to let him down. Was already engaged you know." Kasumi said cheerfully as she drunk her own tea. "What about you Pantyhose Taro? Do you have anybody special?"

"Will you stop calling me that!" He shouted, his face red with shame at his cursed name.

"Oh! But that's your name! It wouldn't be proper to call you something else." Kasumi said in a completely oblivious tone.

If he wasn't convinced that she was an airhead without a thought in her mind he'd swear she was making fun of him. "Hurry up you freak." He muttered, looking off into the distance where he knew Akane and her Master would be coming from. "I want my new name." So focused on his goal he didn't even notice that Kasumi's smile had changed to be more of a smirk.


End file.
